THE SOPRANO TROMBONE HOAX* - (ASU) Trombone Studio

138 

HISTORIC BRASS SOCIETY JOURNAL 

THE SOPRANO TROMBONE HOAX * 

Howard Weiner 

The soprano or discant trombone is the stepchild of the trombone family. Developed 

late in comparison to the other trombones, it hardly found employment by composers of 

stature; only Johann Sebastian Bach called for a soprano trombone in three of his cantatas. 

By chance and through the absence of historical knowledge in following generations, however, 

Heinrich Schütz, Christoph Willibald Gluck, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart were 

also brought into connection with this instrument. Thus, in the nineteenth and twentieth 

centuries various false “facts” concerning the soprano trombone have made the rounds. In 

concentrated form, they are to be found in Posaune, the eighth volume of Hans Kunitz’ 

series Die Instrumentation, first published in 1959 by Breitkopf & Härtel. 1 Kunitz, however, 

did not content himself with a simple retelling of the usual legends, but added his own 

embellishments. In spite of the obvious source-historical problems in Kunitz’ book, other 

writers have apparently considered it to be credible, repeatedly employing it as a source for 

their own publications. More recently, additional works betraying Kunitz’ influence have 

appeared, including the article “Posaune” in the new MGG. 2 Besides pricking the bubble 

of Kunitz’ hoax, I will also present early references and sources that may help us form a 

new, more accurate picture of the soprano trombone. 

In attempting to verify Kunitz’ information, one is immediately confronted by a lack 

of source references. The reason for this is simple: Little of what Kunitz writes about the 

history of the trombone is based on historical fact. Let us take, for example, the very first 

sentence of his version of the soprano trombone’s “historical development”: 

The soprano trombone, also called discant trombone, has belonged to the 

trombone family from the very start, thus at least since the beginning of the 

sixteenth century. 3 

There is no evidence to support this assertion. Neither graphic depictions nor written 

descriptions of soprano trombones exist from the sixteenth century. Instruments as well 

as a dedicated repertoire are likewise completely lacking. But even where Kunitz’ source is 

evident, one has to be very careful: 

Since the beginning of the seventeenth century, one differentiated between 

the following types of trombone: 

1. Trombone Soprano = Soprano (Discant) Trombone 

2. Trombone Alto also called Trombonino or Tromboncino = Alto Trombone 

3. Trombone Tenore also called Gemeine Rechte Posaun or Tuba minor = Tenor 

Trombone

4. Trombone Basso also called Trombone grande or Trombone majore or Tuba 

major = Bass Trombone, Quart Trombone, Quint Trombone 

5. Trombone doppio also called Oktavposaune or Tuba maxima = Contrabass 

Trombone 4 

139 

Kunitz does not cite a source for this list, but the terminology points to Michael Praetorius’ 

Syntagma Musicum, 5 this, of course, being the only early seventeenth-century source 

that provides such an itemization. The following table shows the similarities and, more 

importantly, the differences: 

Praetorius 

1. Alt oder Discant Posaun 

Trombino 

Trombetta picciola 

2. Gemeine rechte Posaun 

Tuba minor 

Trombetta 

Trombone piccolo 

3. Quart-Posaun 

Trombon grande 

Trombone majore 

Tuba major 

Quint-Posaun 

4. Octav-Posaun 

Trombone doppio 

Tuba maxima 

la trombone all Ottava basso 

WEINER 

Kunitz 

1. Trombone Soprano 

Sopranposaune 

Diskantposaune 

2. Trombone Alto 

Trombonino 

Tromboncino 

Altposaune 

3. Trombone Tenore 

Gemeine Rechte Posaun 

Tuba minor 

Tenorposaune 

4. Trombone Basso 

Trombone grande 

Trombone majore 

Tuba major 

Baßposaune 

Quartposaune 

Quintposaune 

5. Trombone doppio 

Oktavposaune 

Tuba maxima 

Kontrabaßposaune 

As one can see, Kunitz’ designations for tenor, bass, and contrabass trombones are largely 

identical to those given by Praetorius. But something strange has happened with Praetorius’

140 


Alt oder Discant Posaun. The terms no longer agree, and one instrument has become two: 

The “alto or discant trombone” has become an “alto and a discant trombone.” In this manner, 

the four types of trombone specified by Praetorius become five in Kunitz. 

Since Kunitz is not the only one who has had trouble interpreting Praetorius correctly, 

it may be worthwhile to examine the original. On page 31 of the second volume of 

Syntagma Musicum, we read: 

Posaun ... deren seynd viererley Arten oder Sorten [Trombones ... of which 

there are four types or sorts] (Figure 1). 

Figure 1 

Michael Praetorius, Syntagma musicum II (Wolfenbüttel, 1619), p. 31. 

On page 20 a chart of ranges shows “a complete set”: 

Ein ganz Accort. Tromboni: Posaunen. 1. Sort: Octav Posaun. 2. Sort: Quart 

Pos[aun]. 3. Sort: Gemeine oder rechte Posaun. 4. Sort: Alt Pos[aun] (Figure 2)

And on page 13: 

WEINER 

Figure 2 

Praetorius, Syntagma musicum II, p. 20. 

Ein Accort od’ Stimmwerk von Instrumenten, helt in sich etliche unterschiedliche 

Sorten: Nemlich ... Viererley (Sorten / die) Posaunen: [A set or 

whole consort of instruments consists of various sorts: Namely ... sets with 

four sorts / the trombones:] Alt Posaun, Gemeine rechte Posaun, Quart 

Posaun, Octav Posaun (Figure 3). 

141

142 


Figure 3 

Praetorius, Syntagma musicum II, p. 13.

143 

It should also be noted that the “Theatrum Instrumentorum” appended to Syntagma Musicum 

II contains illustrations of only these four types of trombone. In short, the soprano 

trombone is neither mentioned nor depicted in Praetorius, and is also not to be found in 

any other source from the beginning of the seventeenth century. 6 

This, however, does not stop Kunitz from blaming Praetorius for the instrument’s lack 

of use: 

The soprano trombone, also called discant trombone, has belonged to the 

trombone family from the very start, thus at least since the beginning of the 

sixteenth century. After a relatively short time, however, it fell into a sort 

of “disrepute” among instrumentalists and, as a result, also in the specialist 

literature, something that has not been rectified to the present day. As early as 

1618 Praetorius declared that the soprano trombone was “insufficient in sound 

and technique.” And this judgement, which is found in such an important 

and authoritative work as his “Syntagma Musicum,” has been uncritically 

accepted throughout all the following centuries, and indeed, not only in the 

specialist literature, but also by composers and instrumentalists. 7 

And in another passage, 

WEINER 

The reason given by Praetorius, that the soprano trombone was not equal to the 

other trombones in sound and technique, cannot be considered correct. 8 

Apart from the fact that Praetorius was not talking about the soprano trombone at all, 

this interpretation is rather arbitrary. Actually, Praetorius’ original text reads quite a bit 

differently (Figure 1): 

Alto or discant trombone: ... with which a melody can be played very well 

and naturally, although the sound in such a small corpus is not as good as 

when the tenor trombone, with good embouchure and practice, is played 

in this high register. 9 

One will also search in vain for the “judgement” that the soprano trombone was “insufficient 

in sound and technique”—a “judgement” that Kunitz puts into Praetorius’ mouth. 

This quotation actually stems from Hermann Eichborn, and is found on page 23 of his 

book Die Trompete in alter und neuer Zeit, published in 1881. 10 

But Kunitz also identifies other guilty parties: 

The real reason for its infrequent use undoubtedly lay in the lack of ability 

and readiness on the part of musicians to occupy themselves with the 

instrument. 11

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Now the “truth” comes out! The musicians are the villains in this piece. They refused to play 

an instrument for which the composers had not written any music, an instrument that did 

not even exist for much of the period in question. “The indolence and insufficient technical 

ability” 12 of these musicians is hardly to be believed. And as if that were not enough, 

As the cornett, during the Renaissance technically improved, but still very 

mediocre in terms of sound quality, came more and more into use during 

the Baroque period, instrumentalists often made it easy for themselves and 

simply employed the cornett, with its easy-to-play fingering system, instead 

of the difficult-to-use soprano trombone. 13 

It apparently rankles Kunitz that another instrument occupies the position he would liked 

to see occupied by the soprano trombone: 

In those cases in which the cornett is employed as the highest voice of a closed 

trombone group, it is in fact a makeshift solution [italics original]. 14 

He even speaks of 

the vulgar, base, and dull sound of the primitive cornett. 15 

And when Kunitz refers to the cornett as an instrument that has been “declared unusable 

for art music,” as he does on page 798, one has only to turn back one page to determine 

that it was Kunitz himself who declared, 

In view of all this, the cornett cannot at all be considered an instrument 

appropriate for art music. 16 

We do not want or need to defend the honor of the cornett here. The relevant historical 

sources, not to mention present-day performers such as Bruce Dickey, Jean Tubéry, and 

William Dongois, give eloquent testimony as to the qualities and possibilities of this instrument. 

17 The cornett came upon the scene almost two hundred years before the soprano 

trombone, and was demonstrably required and employed as the highest voice of the “closed 

trombone group.” The cornett did not supplant the soprano trombone, nor did the soprano 

trombone supplant the cornett. 

Nevertheless, an instrument has to have something to play, so Kunitz attempts to 

conjure up a repertoire: 

The great masters, such as Schütz, Bach, Gluck, and Mozart employed the 

soprano trombone in the four-part trombone group usual at that time, and 

indeed until the end of the eighteenth century. 18

With this statement Kunitz calls up four of the most important composers of the seventeenth 

and eighteenth centuries as witnesses for his hoax. 

And 

WEINER 

The soprano trombone was initially a full-fledged member of the trombone 

group, as can be recognized from the works of Heinrich Schütz, in which 

the closed, four-part trombone group, made up of soprano, alto, tenor, and 

bass trombones, is to be found. 19 

As already stated ... the four-part group with the soprano trombone still 

predominated in the works of Heinrich Schütz. 20 

145 

But just how “predominant” is the “four-part trombone group” in the works of Heinrich 

Schütz? Schütz called for trombones in thirty-two works, of which nineteen have a threepart, 

and only seven a four-part trombone group. And none of these seven works require 

a four-part trombone group with soprano, alto, tenor, and bass trombones. 

For Kunitz, the combination of soprano, alto, tenor, and bass clefs is the “usual manner 

of notation” 21 for the “centuries-old, traditional, pure four-part trombone group.” 22 My 

research has turned up seventy-three four-part trombone groups in sixty-eight instrumental 

and vocal works of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with a total of fifteen different 

clef combinations. The most frequent was the combination alto-tenor-tenor-bass, which 

appeared twenty-three times. Kunitz’ “usual manner of notation” did not turn up at all. 

It should be noted, by the way, that one cannot infer the intended instrument simply 

from the clef of the part. A part in alto clef, for instance, does not necessarily demand an alto 

trombone. Much more important is the tessitura. For example, although many of Schütz’ 

“high” trombone parts are notated in alto clef, all but a few remain within the range given 

by Praetorius as normal for the tenor trombone—E - a’ (See Figure 2). 

An ensemble of soprano, alto, tenor, and bass trombones, notated in Kunitz’ “usual” 

clef combination, is found in three cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach: Ach Gott, vom Himmel 

sieh’ darein (BWV 2), Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis (BWV 21) and Aus tiefer Not schrei’ 

ich zu dir (BWV 38). Strangely only Cantata 2 attracts Kunitz’ attention; Cantatas 21 and 

38 are simply ignored. Instead, Kunitz attempts to smuggle the cantatas Sehet, welch’ eine 

Liebe (BWV 64) and Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt (BWV 68) into the canon of works with 

soprano trombone, although the highest parts of these works are labeled cornettino and 

cornetto, respectively. Kunitz’ reason? 

Bach is to be considered one of the last representatives of the pure four-part 

trombone group, employing the real trombone family, reaching from the 

soprano to the bass instruments, whose usual notation: [soprano, alto, tenor, 

bass clefs] also predominates in his scores where he employs trombones, even 

when he sometimes ... labels the highest part with “cornetto.” 23

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Figure 4 

J.S. Bach, Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt (BWV 69), autograph parts, Corno (mvt. 1) and 

Cornetto (mvt. 5). (Leipzig, Bach-Archiv).

WEINER 

147 

If we apply Kunitz’ own criterion, however, we would automatically have to disqualify the 

highest part of Cantata 68 as a soprano trombone part. This autograph cornett part is not 

in soprano, but treble clef (Figure 4). The highest part of Cantata 64, labeled cornettino, 

also lacks a characteristic typical of a Bach trombone part: unlike all of Bach’s authenticated 

trombone parts, this one is not transposed. 24 

But why does Kunitz ignore Cantatas 21 and 38, even though both offer authentic 

soprano trombone parts? 

It should be noted that the “cornetto” parts in Bach’s cantatas were indeed 

written for the Stadtpfeifer cornett in those cases in which they support, 

with simple sustained tones, the cantus firmus of the choir, without organic 

relationship to the trombone parts. 25 

Accordingly, in Kunitz’ view the cornetto and soprano trombone parts with a cantus firmus 

or simple chorale melody are actually cornett parts, and the cornetto and cornettino parts 

with numerous fast notes are actually soprano trombone parts! 

In any case, especially at the beginning of the eighteenth century, the instrumentalists’ 

arbitrary practice of simply substituting the cornett for the 

specified, but technically more difficult to control, soprano trombone had 

become so widespread that not only was a genius like Johann Sebastian Bach 

forced to make concessions in order to secure a performance of his cantatas, 

but at times the soprano trombone itself was designated as “cornetto.” 26 

These absurd assertions surely do not require comment. The last of these, however, comes 

up again in connection with Christoph Willibald Gluck: 

Thus Gluck too made use of the soprano trombone under the name Cornetto 

in the Italian version of the score of his Orpheus. 27 

Exceptionally, Kunitz cites a seemingly reliable source here, namely Hector Berlioz, who 

in his Grand Traité d’Instrumentation from 1843 did in fact state: 

Only Gluck, in the Italian score of Orfeo, wrote for the soprano trombone, 

under the name Cornetto. 28 

I must admit that I was rather astonished when I first read this. But Berlioz too was only 

human, and humans can err. In 1862, nineteen years after his treatise appeared, Berlioz 

published an essay about the 1859 production of Orfeo at the Théâtre Lyrique, in which 

he wrote, 

At the time in which Gluck wrote Orfeo for Vienna, a wind instrument

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was in use that even today is employed in some churches in Germany to 

accompany the chorales, and is called the cornetto. It is made of wood, has 

a conical bore and is played with a mouthpiece of brass or horn similar to 

that of a trumpet. 

In the religious funeral ceremony held at Euridice’s grave, in the first act of 

Orfeo, Gluck combined the cornetto with three trombones to accompany 

the four parts of the choir. 29 

And the soprano trombone sneaked out the stage door. At first glance, Mozart’s Mass in C 

Minor, K. 427, would also seem to provide evidence for the use of the soprano trombone. 

But when Kunitz claims that Mozart “explicitly labeled the trombone parts as Posaune I 

- IV,” 30 he is again fantasizing. In his autograph score, Mozart signaled where the trombones 

were to play and pause by means of appropriate indications in the vocal parts. Only in the 

first movement, Kyrie, are there three such markings in the soprano part: in measure 6, 

tro: (Figures 5 and 6), in measure 27 Senz: trom:, and in measure 86 senz: tr:. According 

Figure 5 

W.A. Mozart, Mass in C Minor (K. 427), autograph score, fol. 1 r (Kyrie) (Staatsbibliothek 

zu Berlin—Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Musikabteilung mit Mendelssohn-Archiv).

to the editors of the Neue Mozart Ausgabe, 

WEINER 

Figure 6 

Detail of Figure 5. 

All indications for the participation of the trombones in the Kyrie were 

added to the autograph by Mozart only at a later point in time. This can be 

discerned at numerous places by the placement of the respective annotations 

or through the superscription over already existing characters. It is possible 

that Mozart performed this process rather mechanically and did not take 

care how often and in which part he placed the entries. 31 

149 

There is, however, weighty evidence for Mozart’s actual intentions. In the Sanctus, for example, 

Mozart himself wrote the indications Trombone Imo, Trombone 2do, and Trombone 3tio, 

corresponding to the alto, tenor, and bass vocal parts, respectively (Figures 7 and 8). Figure 

9 shows a brace from the Hosanna, marked 3 Tromboni, this too in Mozart’s hand. 

And last but not least, we have the Trombone Imo part from the first performance of the 

Mass in Salzburg in 1783 (Figure 10). This part is in the hand of Salzburg court musician 

Felix Hofstätter, who frequently copied music for the Mozart family. As can be seen, this 

part too corresponds to the alto voice line. There is obviously no place here for a soprano 

trombone. 32

150 


Figure 7 

W.A. Mozart, Mass in C Minor (K. 427), autograph score, fol. 69 r (Sanctus). 

Figure 8 

Detail of Figure 7.

WEINER 

Figure 9 

W.A. Mozart, Mass in C Minor, K. 427, autograph score, fol. 70 v (detail of Hosanna) 

151 

With this we have uncovered the main points of the hoax and exposed Kunitz’ history 

of the soprano trombone as a fabrication. Under normal circumstances, one would 

certainly dismiss Kunitz’ book as a bizarre mixture of fantasy and fact (with the former 

greatly outweighing the latter) in the guise of a serious treatment of the trombone’s history 

and usage. Yet Kunitz has managed to become an important source of “knowledge” 

about the soprano trombone, offering twenty-two pages of information on this instrument 

to those willing to overlook some very obvious flaws. Given the almost complete lack of 

documentary evidence concerning the soprano trombone, it is perhaps not surprising that 

many scholars and players have been willing to take Kunitz’ information at face value. Be 

that as it may, by refuting the myths that until now have obscured our view of the soprano 

trombone, I hope to have created a much-needed tabula rasa as starting point for serious 

research into the instrument’ history. To this end, I should also like to offer the early references 

and sources that I came upon while researching the present article. 

The earliest piece of evidence is an actual instrument: A soprano trombone by Christian 

Kofahl, dated 1677, is the earliest known instrument of this type (Figure 11). 33

152 


Figure 10 

W.A. Mozart, Mass in C Minor (K. 427), Trombone I mo part of the original performance 

material, Salzburg, 1783. (Reproduced with the kind permission of the Heilig Geist 

Kloster, Augsburg.)

WEINER 

Figure 11 

Soprano trombone by Christian Kofahl, Grabow (Germany), 1677 (Kremsmünster, 

Musikinstrumentenmuseum Schloss Kremsegg; photo by Lars Laubhold). 

153 

Several printed sources mention the soprano trombone. In his Abbildung der Gemein- 

Nützlichen Haupt-Stände (Regensburg, 1698), Christoff Weigel wrote that “the trombones 

are also made in various sizes, namely soprano, alto, tenor, bass, and quart trombones.” 34 

In a similar work, Johann Samuel Halle’s Werkstäte der heutigen Künste (Brandenburg and 

Leipzig, 1764), it is stated that “there are four trombones; soprano, alto, tenor, and quart 

or quint trombones.” 35 A third source comes from Norway: The Musikaliske Elementer by 

Johann Daniel Berlin was published in 1744 in Trondheim. In the chapter “On playing 

the cornett,” Berlin wrote, 

The cornett ... is generally used in loud and splendid music, and in accompaniment 

or together with trombones; it is employed on the highest part 

when there is no soprano trombone. 

§2. However, even in such a case [sic!], one still prefers the cornett to the 

soprano trombone, because the cornett can be played gracefully. 36 

Two manuscript sources from Leipzig are of interest to us here. Shortly after assuming 

the position of Thomaskantor in 1701, Johann Kuhnau submitted two inventories to 

the Leipzig town council, itemizing the music and instruments in the possession of the 

Thomasschule, the Thomaskirche, and the Nicolaikirche. In the second inventory, dated 22 

May 1702, he stated,

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Since the trombones are good church instruments, the ones here, however, 

very old and beat up and therefore not suitable to be used, it would be 

necessary to acquire new ones, and namely a pair of soprano trombones, in 

their stead. 37 

Later, another hand added, “ist geschehen” (“it has been done”). 38 

Almost seventy years later, on 2 August 1769, Johann Friedrich Doles, Bach’s pupil 

and successor as Thomaskantor (served 1756-1789), evaluated the playing of a candidate 

for the position of Stadtpfeifer: 

The 1st Kunstgeiger Pfaffe... 3) The simple chorale on the soprano, alto, tenor, 

and bass trombone (the last of which none of his colleagues plays better than 

he and his brother, and which requires good lungs) he played well. 39 

The earliest surviving works with soprano trombone parts also come from Leipzig, namely 

the three cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach mentioned above. The above-mentioned Doles 

wrote twenty-six so-called figurierte Choräle and a cantata that require four trombones, with 

a soprano trombone apparently doubling the chorale melody in the highest voice. 40 

Two Passions by Georg Philipp Telemann have soprano trombone parts, although 

not in their original versions. A St. John Passion from 1761 and a St. Mark Passion from 

1767 were adapted in 1793 and 1788, respectively, by Telemann’s grandson Georg Michael 

Telemann for performances in Riga, where he was employed as church music director. 41 

And finally, there is a sizable repertoire of wind music with parts for soprano trombone, 

which comes from the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine or Moravian Brethren. In Europe and 

in America the Moravians frequently employed a four-part trombone group with soprano, 

alto, tenor, and bass trombones. Among the collections of music from the second half of 

the eighteenth century that have come down to us are two from the Moravian community 

in Zeist, Holland. The first is a chorale book in score with 169 chorales for trombone 

quartet; 42 the second, preserved in part books, contains twenty-nine pieces for trombone 

quartet. 43 In the holdings of the Moravian Music Foundation in Winston-Salem, North 

Carolina, there is a manuscript containing six sonatas for trombone quartet written by a 

composer named Cruse 44 (Figure 12) and a set of trombone chorale books dating from 

around 1790 45 (Figure 13). A similar set of trombone chorale books is also preserved in 

the Brethren’s House, Lititz, Pennsylvania. 46 

Thus the soprano trombone apparently first appeared during the last quarter of the 

seventeenth century and found its primary usage in the Protestant Church, where it occasionally 

strengthened the soprano voice in the chorales. Foremost in using the instrument 

in this manner were the Moravians, who also developed an appropriate instrumental 

repertoire. In this way, the soprano trombone has led a marginal, yet honorable existence 

since the eighteenth century—and certainly has not deserved to have false honors heaped 

upon it by Hans Kunitz.

WEINER 

Figure 12 

6 Sonaten auf Posaunen die Cruse (Winston-Salem, NC, Moravian Music Foundation, 

SCM 261, Salem Collegium Musicum collection). 

155

156 


Figure 13 

Trombone chorale book (1790s?), soprano trombone part (Winston-Salem, NC, Moravian 

Music Foundation, SCM 261, Salem Collegium Musicum collection). 

Howard Weiner is a free-lance musician residing in Freiburg, Germany. He studied trombone 

with Frank Crisafulli at Northwestern University and early music at the Schola Cantorum 

Basiliensis. 

NOTES 

* This article is a revised version of a paper read at Toronto 2000: Musical Intersections. A Germanlanguage 

version appeared in the Michaelsteiner Konferenzberichte 60 (Blankenburg: Stiftung Kloster 

Michaelstein, 2001), pp. 67-82. 

1 Hans Kunitz, Die Instrumentation: Ein Hand- und Lehrbuch, vol. 8, Posaune (Leipzig: Breitkopf & 

Härtel, 1959). See also Hans Kunitz, Instrumenten-Brevier (Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1961, 

2/1971). 

2 Works that cite Kunitz include the books The Trombone by Robin Gregory (London: Faber and 

Faber, 1973) and the Handbuch der Musikinstrumentenkunde by Erich Valentin (Regensburg: Gustav 

Bosse Verlag, 1986), the articles “Le Trombone alto” by Benny Sluchin in Brass Bulletin 61 (1988), 

“Strumenti a Fiato” by Georg Karstädt in the encyclopedia La Musica (Turin: Unione Tipografico- 

Editrice Torinese, 1966), and “Posaune” by Christian Ahrens in the new MGG (in which Ahrens at 

least calls some of Kunitz’ assertions into question). The Lexikon Musikinstrumente, ed. Wolfgang 

Ruf (Mannheim: Meyers Lexikonverlag, 1991), Reclams Musikinstrumentenführer by Ermanno Briner 

(Stuttgart: Philipp Reclam jun., 1988), and Jörg Richter’s article “Die Diskantposaune” in Brass Bul-

WEINER 

157 

letin 62 (1988) do not mention Kunitz, but the connection is clearly discernible. 

3 Kunitz, Posaune, p. 794. “Die Sopranposaune, auch Diskantposaune genannt, gehört von Anfang 

an, also spätestens seit Beginn des 16. Jahrhunderts zur Familie der Posaunen.” 

4 Ibid., p. 588. “Seit Anfang des 17. Jahrhunderts unterschied man folgende Arten ... der 

Posaune:” 

5 Michael Praetorius, Syntagma Musicum, vol. 2 (Wolfenbüttel, 1619; rpt. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1958), 

pp. 32-33. 

6 An inventory from 1613 does mention “Zwey kleine alt oder Discant posaune” (“two small alto 

or discant trombones” but from the context it is obvious that, as in Praetorius, alto trombones are 

meant. In a later inventory (1636) of the same collection these instruments are listed as “Zwey kleine 

discant Posaunen.” See Ernst Zulauf, Beiträge zur Geschichte der Landgräflich-Hessischen Hofkapelle 

zu Cassel bis auf die Zeit Moritz des Gelehrten (Ph.D. diss., Universität Leipzig, 1902), pp. 118, 134. 

See also Anthony C. Baines, “Two Cassel Inventories,” Galpin Society Journal 4 (1951): 33. 

7 Kunitz, Posaune, p. 794. “Die Sopranposaune, auch Diskantposaune genannt, gehört von Anfang 

an, also spätestens seit Beginn des 16. Jahrhunderts zur Familie der Posaunen. Sie ist jedoch bereits 

nach verhältnismäßig kurzer Zeit sowohl bei den Instrumentalisten als auch demzufolge in der 

Fachliteratur in eine Art ‘Verruf’ gekommen, der bis auf den heutigen Tag nicht richtiggestellt 

worden ist. Schon Praetorius erklärt nämlich im Jahre 1618, daß die Sopranposaune ‘an Klang und 

Applikatur nicht genüge’ und dieses in einem so bedeutenden und maßgebenden Werke, wie es sein 

‘Syntagma musicum’ war, enthaltene Urteil ist durch alle folgenden Jahrhunderte hindurch kritiklos 

hingenommen worden, und zwar sowohl von der Fachliteratur als auch von den Komponisten 

und den Instrumentalisten.” 

8 Ibid., p. 589. “Die hierfür von Praetorius angegebene Begründung, daß die Sopranposaune den 

übrigen Posaunen an Klang und Technik nicht gleichgekommen sei, kann nicht als zutreffend 

angesehen werden.” 

9 Praetorius, Syntagma II, p. 31. “Alt oder Discant Posaun: ... mit welcher auch ein Discant gar wol 

und natürlich geblasen werden kan: Wiewol die Harmony in solchem kleinen Corpore nicht so gut, 

als wenn auff der rechten gemeinen Posaun, durch guten Ansatz und Übung, ein solche höhe kan 

erreichet werden.” 

10 Hermann Eichborn, Die Trompete in alter und neuer Zeit (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1881), p. 

23. “an Klang und Applikatur nicht genüge.” 

11 Kunitz, Posaune, p. 589. “Der wirkliche Grund für ihre seltenere Verwendung lag vielmehr 

zweifellos in der mangelnden Fähigkeit und Bereitschaft der Spieler, sich mit diesem Instrument 

zu befassen.” 

12 Ibid., p. 796 “die Indolenz und das mangelnde technische Können.” 

13 Ibid., p. 795. “Als nun der in der Renaissance technisch verbesserte, jedoch klanglich nach wie 

vor sehr minderwertige Zink (cornetto bzw. cornettino) in der Barockzeit immer mehr in Gebrauch 

kam, machten es sich die Instrumentalisten vielfach leicht und verwendeten an Stelle der schwer zu 

bedienenden Sopranposaune einfach den infolge seines Grifflochsystems leicht spielbaren Zink.” 

14 Ibid., p. 795. “In derartigen Fällen also, in denen der Zink als oberste Stimme eines geschlossenen 

Posaunensatzes eingesetzt ist, handelte es sich um eine Verlegenheitslösung.” 

15 Ibid., p. 795. “den rohen und unedlen, glanzlosen Klang des primativen Zinken.” 

16 Ibid., p. 797. “Nach alledem ist der Zink überhaupt nicht als ein der Kunstmusik zugehörendes 

Instrument anzusehen.” 

17 See for example Marin Mersenne, Harmonie universelle (Paris, 1636); Giovanni Maria Artusi, Delle 

Imperfettioni della Moderna Musica (Venice, 1600); Girolamo Dalla Casa, Il Vero Modo di Diminuir 

(Venice, 1584); Johann Mattheson, Das Neu-Eröffnete Orchestre (Hamburg, 1713); Johann Mattheson,

158 


Der Vollkommene Capellmeister (Hamburg, 1739); Roger North (ca. 1720), Roger North on Music, 

ed. John Wilson (London: Novello, 1959). 

18 Kunitz, Posaune, p. 794. “Die großen Meister wie z.B. Schütz, Bach, Gluck und Mozart setzten 

die Sopranposaune jedoch in dem damals, und zwar bis Ende des 18. Jahrhunderts, üblichen vierstimmigen 

Posaunensatz ein.” 

19 Ibid., p. 589. “Die Sopranposaune [war] zunächst ein vollwertiges Mitglied der Posaunengruppe, 

wie z.B. aus den Werken von Heinrich Schütz zu erkennen ist, in denen der geschlossene, von Sopran-, 

Alt-, Tenor- und Baßposaune gebildete vierstimmige Posaunensatz zu finden ist.” 

20 Ibid. “Wie bereits dargelegt ... herrscht in den Werken von Heinrich Schütz noch der vierstimmige 

Satz mit der Sopranposaune vor.” 

21 Ibid., p. 797. “übliche Notierungsweise.” 

22 Ibid., p. 798. “den seit Jahrhunderten üblichen reinen vierstimmigen Posaunensatz.” 

23 Ibid., p. 797. “Bach [ist] als einer der letzten Vertreter des reinen vierstimmigen Posaunensatzes 

unter Verwendung der echten, vom Sopran- bis zum Baßinstrument reichenden Posaunenfamilie 

anzusehen, dessen übliche Notierungsweise: [Sopran-, Alt-, Tenor-, Baßschlüssel] auch seine Partituren 

beherrscht, wo er Posaunen verwendet, wenn er auch bisweilen ... die oberste Stimme mit 

‘Cornetto’ bezeichnet.” 

24 A whole-tone transposition was necessary to bring the trombones, which were in “choir pitch,” 

down to the “chamber pitch” of the woodwind and string instruments. This transposition is reflected 

in the surviving trombone parts as well as in the organ and some of the cornett parts of the original 

performing material. 

25 Ibid., p. 808. “Zu bemerken ist noch, daß die ‘Cornetto’ Stimmen in den Kantaten Bachs in denjenigen 

Fällen wohl tatsächlich nur für den Stadtpfeiffer-Zink geschrieben sind, in denen sie ohne 

satzmäßigen Zusammenhang mit den Stimmen der Posaunen mit einfachen, gehaltenen Tönen den 

Cantus firmus des Chores verstärken.” 

26 Ibid., p. 797. “Immerhin hatte besonders zu Beginn des 18. Jahrhunderts die eigenmächtige Gepflogenheit 

der Instrumentalisten, einfach den Zink an Stelle der vorgeschriebenen, aber technisch 

schwieriger zu bewältigenden Sopranposaune zu verwenden, eine solche Verbreitung gefunden, daß 

sich nicht nur ein Genie wie Joh. Seb. Bach zu Konzessionen bereitfinden mußte, um eine Aufführung 

seiner Kantaten überhaupt zu ermöglichen, sondern daß man bisweilen sogar die Sopranposaune 

selbst als ‘Cornetto’ bezeichnete.” 

27 Ibid., p. 798. “So setzte auch Gluck in der italienischen Fassung der Partitur seines ‘Orpheus’ ... 

die Sopranposaune unter der Bezeichnung ‘Cornetto’ ein.” 

28 Hector Berlioz, Grand Traité d’Instrumentation et d’Orchestration modernes (Paris, 1843), p. 199. “Gluck 

seul, dans sa partition italienne d’Orfeo, a écrit le Trombone soprano sous le nom de Cornetto.” 

29 Hector Berlioz, “L’Orfée de Gluck,” A travers chants, Ètudes musicales, adorations, boutades et critiques 

(Paris 1862), pp. 110-11. “Il y avait, à l’époque où Gluck ècrivit l’Orfeo à Vienne, un instrument 

à vent dont on se sert encore aujourd’hui dans quelques églises d’Allemagne pour accompagner les 

chorals, et qu’il nomme cornetto. Il est en bois, percè de trous, et se joue avec une embouchure de 

cuivre on de corne semblable à l’embouchure de la trompette. 

Dans la cérémonie religieuse funèbre qui se fait autour de tombeau d’Eurydice, au premier acte 

d’Orfeo, Gluck adjoignit le cornetto aux trois trombones pour accompagner les quatre parties du 

choeur.” 

30 Kunitz, Posaune, p. 806. “die Posaunenstimmen ausdrücklich als Posaune I - IV bezeichnete.” 

31 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Messe in c (KV 427), ed. Monika Holl and Karl-Heinz Köhler, Neue 

Mozart Ausgabe I/1/1, vol. 5, (Kassel, Basel, etc. 1983), p. XVII. “Alle Bemerkungen zur Mitwirkung 

der Posaunen im Kyrie wurden von Mozart erst zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt in das Autograph

WEINER 

159 

nachgetragen, wie an mehreren Stellen durch die Plazierung der betreffenden Anmerkung oder durch 

das Darüberschreiben über bereits vorhandene Schriftzeichen zu erkennen ist. Es ist möglich, daß 

Mozart diesen Arbeitsgang mehr mechanisch ausführte und nicht so sehr darauf achtete, wie oft und 

in welchen Stimmen er Einträge anbrachte.” 

32 And Kunitz presumably would have resisted the temptation to designate his beloved soprano 

trombone as “Trombone nullo.” 

33 This instrument was recently purchased by the Trumpet Museum Schloss Kremsegg, Austria. 

See Lars Laubhold, “Sensation or Forgery? The 1677 Soprano Trombone of Christiann Kofahl,” 

Historic Brass Society Journal 12 (2000): 259-265. Anthony Baines (Brass Instruments: Their History 

and Development, [London and Boston: Faber & Faber, 1976, 2/1978], p. 179), cites the soprano 

trombone made in 1733 by J.H. Eichentopf, Leipzig, as the oldest extant instrument of this type. 

This instrument, formerly in Breslau (Wroclaw), was apparently lost or destroyed during World War 

II, but is documented in the catalogue of the former Breslau collection (Schlesisches Museum für 

Kunstgewerbe und Altertümer, Führer und Katalog zur Sammlung alter Musikinstrumente, ed. Peter 

Epstein and Ernst Scheyer [Breslau: Verlag des Museums, 1932], p. 43). Sometimes falsely cited 

(based on the information in Lyndesay G. Langwill, An Index of Musical Wind Instrument Makers, 

[Edinburgh: Langwill, 5/1977], p. 93) as the oldest soprano trombone is an instrument from 1697 

by Johann Karl Kodisch, Nuremberg, now in Burgdorf Castle, Burgdorf, Switzerland; it is in fact 

a tenor trombone. 

34 Christoff Weigel, Abbildung der Gemein-Nützlichen Haupt-Stände (Regensburg 1698), p. 233. 

“Die Posaunen sind ebenfalls unterschiedlicher Gattung / als Discant- Alt- Tenor- Baß- und Quart- 

Posaunen.” 

35 Johann Samuel Halle, Werkstäte der heutigen Künste (Brandenburg and Leipzig 1764), p. 371. 

“Posaunen gibt es vier; Discant- Alt- Tenor und Quart- oder Quintposaune.” 

36 Johann Daniel Berlin, Musikaliske Elementer (Trondheim 1744). Cited in Petra Leonards, Edward 

H. Tarr, und Bjarne Volle, “Die Behandlung des Zinken in zwei norwegischen Quellen des 18. Jahrhunderts,” 

Basler Jahrbuch für historische Musikpraxis, 5 (1981): 347-360, here 352. 

37 Cited in Arnold Schering, “Die alte Chorbibliothek der Thomasschule in Leipzig,” Archiv für Musikwissenschaft 

1 (1918/19): 275-288, here 280. “Die weil die Trombonen gute Kirchen Instrumente, die 

izo vorhanden aber ganz alt und zerbeugt sind, daher auch nicht wohl zum Gebrauch dienen, so wäre 

nöthig daß an deren Stadt andere neue, und zwar ein Paar Discant Trombonen angeschafft würden.” 

From references in the same document to “3 alte Trombonen, alß Alt, Tenor u. Baß Trombone,” and 

elsewhere in the same document to “3 alte Trombonen, nehmlich 2 Tenor und 1 Alt Trombon,” we 

can be reasonably certain that Kuhnau’s Discant Trombonen are instruments of soprano size. 

38 Ibid. 

39 Cited in Arnold Schering, “Die Leipziger Ratsmusik von 1650 bis 1775,” Archiv für Musikwissenschaft 

3 (1921): 17-53, here 45. “Der 1ste Kunstgeiger Pfaffe... 3) Den simplen Choral auf der 

Discant- Alt- Tenor- und Baß-Posaune, (welche letztere niemand unter seinen Collegen beßer als er 

und sein Bruder bläßt, und die eine gute Lunge erfordert), hat er gut geblasen.” 

40 According to Johann Adam Hiller (Wöchentliche Nachrichten und Anmerkungen die Musik betreffend, 

Leipzig, 23 October 1769; rpt. Hildesheim and New York: Olms, 1970), “the chorale is sung 

in four parts by the choir to the ususal melody, and to support it the composer takes recourse to a 

choir of trombones.” (“Der Choral wird von dem Chore nach der gewöhnlichen Melodie vierstimmig 

gesungen, und zur Verstärkung desselben nimmt der Componist ein Chor Posaunen zu Hülfe.”) 

My efforts to obtain copies of works by Doles containing trombone parts have been unsuccessful; 

the holdings of the Thomasschule, including practically all of Doles’ autographs as well as his works 

with trombones, were presumably destroyed in December 1943 (personal communication from the

160 


Bach-Archiv Leipzig, 15 November 2000). See also Helmut Banning, Johann Friedrich Doles, Leben 

und Werke (Diss. Friedrich-Wilhelm-Universität Berlin, 1939), pp. 149 and 198-245. 

41 Both works are in the holdings of D-B: Johannes-Passion (Mus. ms. 21 705 — TVWV 5:46); 

Markus-Passion (Mus. ms. 21 707 — TVWV 5:52). See Georg Philipp Telemann: Autographe und 

Abschriften, ed. Joachim Jaenecke, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preußischer Kultutbesitz, Kataloge der 

Musikabteilung I/7 (Munich: Henle 1993), pp. 140-143. I would like to thank Kantor Johannes 

Pausch, Hamburg, for calling my attention to the soprano trombone parts in these two works. 

42 See Klaus Winkler, “Die Anfänge der Bläsermusik bei der Herrnhuter Brüdergemeinde im 18. 

Jahrhundert,” Das Musikinstrument 43 (1994): 58-67. 

43 Rijksarchief Utrecht, Ms. Z 1157. This manuscript contains twenty-three numbered “sonatas,” 

six unnumbered pieces including God Save the King and Rule Brittania, as well as fragments of seven 

other pieces. A modern edition of the “sonatas” has been published as 23 Herrnhuter Sonaten, ed. 

Ben van den Bosch (Munich: Strube Verlag, 1988) 

44 6 Sonaten auf Posaunen die Cruse. Collections of the Moravian Music Foundation, Winston-Salem, 

NC, catalogue number SCM 261 (Salem Collegium Musicum collection). (Sonatas 4-6 are missing 

the soprano part.) See also Winkler, “Die Anfänge,” pp. 61 and 64. Modern edition of Sonata No. 

3, ed. Edward H. Tarr and Harry H. Hall (Cologne: Wolfgang G. Haas Verlag, 1997). 

45 Set of trombone partbooks, copied by Johann Friedrich Peter (1790s?). Collections of the Moravian 

Music Foundation, Winston-Salem, NC, catalogue number SB 14. 

46 Communication from Stewart Carter, 13 November 2000.

THE SOPRANO TROMBONE HOAX* - (ASU) Trombone Studio

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